Let's take a look at the basic materials that we have available in Maya.…In order to apply a material to an object, well, we first need an object.…So let's go ahead and just create a simple surface.…I'm going to create a NURBS sphere, and I'm just going to go ahead and drag on…the grid and hit 5 to shade it.…Let's go ahead and move that above the grid so we don't have the grid through it.…Now if I select this object, I can apply a material.…A material really is just a way to shape and render the surface.…

By default, we have what's called a Lambert shader applied.…If I hit the Render button here, that's just a very dull matte material.…Now if I want, I can apply any number of other types of materials.…So if I want to, I can go into my Rendering menu and under Lighting/Shading, I…have a number of different options here.…I have the attributes for the existing material, I can also assign a new…material, assign a new material from a list of favorites which are basically our…standard types of materials, or we can assign an existing material.…

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Released

6/25/2012

Materials define how the surface of 3D objects appear and lend them color, transparency, and texture that allow you to view the characteristics of a surface. This course introduces the basics of creating materials in Maya. Author George Maestri presents the basic material types as well as how to apply and align bitmap textures. He also discusses the concepts behind transparency, specularity, and reflectivity, which impact the appearance and light receptiveness of materials.